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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/24392839">Cardinal Sins</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Stormtide_Leviathan/pseuds/Stormtide_Leviathan'>Stormtide_Leviathan</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Fire Emblem Series, Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Bad Puns, Comedy, Fluff, Friendship, Humor</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-05-26</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-05-26</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-04 03:08:59</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>3,415</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/24392839</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Stormtide_Leviathan/pseuds/Stormtide_Leviathan</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Some students have been slacking lately, and are being punished by cleaning out the old cardinal's room.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>8</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Cardinal Sins</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Dust kicked up as the decorative wooden door creaked open. The old Cardinal's room lay dusty and bare besides a long table with several oak chairs haphazardly surrounding it. Muted beams of sunlight pierced the long-abandoned room through unwashed lancet windows emblazoned with designs of various crests; namely those belonging to the four saints of old.</p><p>"Jeez, it smells in here," Hilda bemoaned as she pinched her nose and suppressed a cough. The pinkette was nonplussed with how to take in the squalid room, let alone her punishment. Alledged punishment.</p><p>Seteth, a well-groomed green-haired man dressed in a blue button-down suit fit for a cleric of high standing strode forth with furrowed eyebrows. He knew the Cardinal's room had not been used in sometime, much evidenced by the settled dust and the stale smell in the air. With more officials coming to meet at the Church of Seiros, it called for rooms to be cleared and he had found his lot of not so willing participants.</p><p>"It's not that bad," Marriane meekly protested. The quiet blue-haired girl followed her fellow Golden Deer classmate. She berated herself profusely for the tardiness that had led to her current situation. Less time in the stables to groom and tend to Dorte and more time forced to interact with her classmates.</p><p>Turning on his heel, the austere and composed green-haired man looked at the assortment of help that had been gathered. A problem group for sure, but one that he would make use of nonetheless.</p><p>"Listen, everybody," Seteth instructed with a stern tone leaving no room for complaints. "The Cardinal's quarter requires some cleaning and minor repairs. By the end of the day, I expect this place to be in top shape. The maids so kindly left cleaning supplies by the door for you to use, and if you find anything that is of interest, please organize it in an orderly pile. I shall search through it tomorrow."</p><p>"If you say so. I still don't get why we have to do this," A green-haired boy with a slim figure yawned. The other students around him give him a curious look as he swayed from side to side as if any moment he would fall asleep.</p><p>"Because, Lindhardt," Seteth coughed to clear his throat of the ambient dust. "You all have been charged with a disciplinary infraction, and your professors have seen fit that I take charge of this punishment."</p><p>A young man with a flat expression and white academy undershirt raised his hand. "I didn't do anything wrong. It's pointless for me to be here," He scoffed.</p><p>Seteth frowned and exhaled deeply, "Felix, you've had several accounts of harassment reported to the church. I'd mind you to keep your inquiries for duels restricted to the training grounds."</p><p>"Fine." Felix grumpily responded as he crossed his arms.</p><p>"Good," Seteth said. "Now that you all are clear on the fact of why you are here, now you make take the time to think about turning things around while you are fixing up the room. Understood?" The four students in front of Seteth nod in acknowledgment. "Good, then I shall see you all this evening. Good day."</p><p>Seteth closed and locked the door behind him leaving the four students to their thoughts and reflection on their misdeeds. Each student seemed to remain silent and still for a moment before splitting up to investigate the drab room.</p><p>"Ugh, do you see how dusty this place is, Marriane?" Hilda remarks as she drags a finger across the filthy long table. "I mean, look at this gunk! Why weren't the maids cleaning this?"</p><p>"I'm not sure," Marriane whispered as she walked her way to the far corner of the room where another old wooden door is shut.</p><p>Across the room, Felix groaned, "Why must it be cleaning a room. It'd be better if it were weapons or something. Right, Lindhardt? Lindhardt?" Felix looked around confused for the lazy boy, before checking underneath the long table to see Lindhardt had already curled up underneath and seemed to be sleeping. How had he maneuvered under there so quickly without him noticing?</p><p>"Hey! Wake up!" Felix shouted as he kicked at Linhardt.</p><p>"Must you yell and use violence?" Lindhardt lazily replied. "We have all day to clean, a little nap won't hurt anyone."</p><p>"Get up before I make you get up," Growled Felix. "You can sleep after this damn job is done."</p><p>"Fine, I'll help." Lindhardt conceded as he crawled out from under the table. "But I'm only doing this because you threatened me."</p><p>"I can live with that."</p><p>"Hey, I think I found something," A faint sounding feminine voice fretted.</p><p>Everyone turned around from their current activity to observe Marriane. She had managed to open the closet in the back of the room, and at her feet, they could see various objects spilling out of the overstuffed closet near her feet.</p><p>Hilda raced over to her friend the quickest and inspected some of the materials. Lots of old fashioned robes, sigils, books, and even a candelabra?! A good quality one too if the gold and silver inlays were authentic. Felix and Lindhardt arrived soon after to inspect the mess, though Felix merely crossed his arms in frustration that there was now more mess to clean up. Lindhardt stifled another yawn to pontificate his indifference on the whole matter.</p><p>"Oh good. More junk for us to clean up. Good job, Marriane," Felix sarcastically chastised, directed at the Golden Deer member, who's demeanor wilts a bit under his words.</p><p>Hilda shot a glare at Felix. "Shut it you sour puss." Felix rolled his eyes at Hilda's reprimand as she continued, "There might actually be something interesting in here!"</p><p>"Seteth also said to pile up anything of interest," Lindhardt explained as he picked up a dusty book and began flipping through the pages. "Yes...excuse me. I'm going to read this to see if Seteth might find it interesting."</p><p>As Lindhardt walked away with his new bauble in hand, Hilda planted her hands on her hips and demanded, "Felix, help me and Marriane sort through this stuff. It'll be easier if we work together and you don't complain."</p><p>"Fine, but I'm still not going to enjoy it." Huffed the broody swordsman as he trudged toward the two girls.</p><p>As Felix began to sift through the large pile, Hilda looked to Marriane with a wink and whispered, "I got you, Marriane."</p><p>"...Thank you." The equestrian lover replied as she too began to sort through the large pile of old church wares with her classmates.</p><p>The three students dove into the pile of mysterious wares. Underneath the initial pile of out of fashion priest garb and books, the group began to discover increasingly odd materials. Felix pulled out a long metal tube with various strings attached to it, Marriane found a masquerade mask with the face being that of a dragon and Hilda managed to snag another strange book.</p><p>"Huh," the pinkette mused as she blew the dust off the book. The faded leather made the title difficult to read as she spoke aloud, "So, it's called…" She pauses her classmates look to at Hilda, who is making a very nonplussed face.</p><p>"What's the matter, Hilda?" Marriane asked with genuine concern in her soft voice.</p><p>Hilda began to flip through the pages, though as she read a few passages her face begins to match the hue of her hair. "Um, yeah. Maybe whoever this cardinal was had a little too much free time."</p><p>Hilda goes to set the book to the side, but Lindhardt snuck up behind her to scoop up the new reading material. "I hear there was another book, so I came over." Lindhardt began to scan the book with his thirst for knowledge on full display. "So, it's called 50 shades of Fey. Sounds interesting enough. Now let's see…"</p><p>"Uh, don't try and read that." Hilda protested as she tried to snatch the smut away from Lindhardt, but the Black Eagle member was slightly quicker than her and backed out of her reach.</p><p>His face remained impassive as he flipped through a few pages and commented, "Well, now this is fascinating. Truly strange the things the church has stored away." Lindhardt dodged Hilda once more as he flipped over another page. "Oh. Wow."</p><p>Hilda finally managed to nab the book from Lindhardt, who has a bemused look on his face. She takes the confiscated book and deposits it by the entryway while glaring at Lindhardt. "Let's not spend all day reading, you do that enough already Lin."</p><p>"I think I've had my fill," Lindhardt conceded as he walked back to the seemingly endless closet.</p><p>"Stop reading smut and help out," Felix grunted as he threw a book at Hilda and Lindhardt. "Add that one too. Some garbage titled, 'Llothlita'."</p><p>With a heavy sigh, Hilda returned to helping out her classmates dig through the pile of books to help see what other junk is stored in the back. The various titles of strange books flew threw her hands, though she couldn't stop herself from reading a few other titles. The mystique of what the depths of an old cardinal's closet lingered in the students' minds.</p><p>"Alright guys, let's get this cleared out before we investigate all this stuff. It'll be easier to organize!" Hilda offered with a bright smile, and her classmates nod in agreeance with her logic.</p><p>The students take the next hour sorting the various collectibles, books, and strange objects into orderly piles. While Hilda had to swat a few potentially dangerous objects from Felix's hands, much to his grumbling, the team of four managed to get through it without incident.</p><p>"Phew, it looks like that's everything!" Hilda chirped as she triumphantly planted her hands on her hips to observe their glorious sorting.</p><p>"Mhmm," Grunted Felix as he took a seat at the long table. "But Seteth won't be back for awhile still."</p><p>"Perhaps we should start dusting and cleaning the floors?" Marriane nervously offered. Seeing everyone's eyes be drawn to her she quickly added, "But we don't have to."</p><p>Hilda shook her head and replied, "No it's a good point. We're on a roll!"</p><p>"Speak for yourself, Hilda," Lindhardt complained as he sprawled out on the floor. "I'm perfectly fine with taking a break."</p><p>Felix with an angry snort walked over to grab and drag Lindhardt by his arm. "I'll work with the lazy one on the East side if you two can handle to West." He shot both ladies a serious look as he furrowed his brow. "I'd rather not be stuck to cleaning duty again with any of you."</p><p>"Wow, I didn't know you felt such admiration for your classmates, Felix!" Hilda cooed in a sing-song tone, though her expression evidenced she was less than enthused with Felix's antics.</p><p>"Don't worry, I don't feel any."</p><p>Hilda rolled her eyes as Marriane looked down at her feet as the Blue Lion dragged away from his forced work partner. Hilda patted Marriane on the back with a smile to try and cheer up her dreary housemate, but the dour girl looked pretty out of sorts.</p><p>"Well, sooner we get away from Sir Grumps A-Lot and his lazy stooge, the better…" Hilda hissed under her breath. Not usually one to let people get under her skin, though Felix's pessimistic attitude was working wonders on her.</p><p>"...I'll get the rags to clean," Marriane pondered nervously. "Unless you want to dust. Then I'll clean the mirrors. If you want."</p><p>Hilda smiled at Marriane and put an arm around Marriane, who flinched a bit at the sudden closeness of the two. "Don't worry Marriane, you can pick whichever task you like. Our area will be spotless!" Hilda gave a wayward glance to Felix and Lindhardt on the far side of the room who looked to be playing hot potato with a filthy duster. With a knowing smirk, Hilda pontificated, "We'll at least be better than those bozos. Golden Deer's time to shine!"</p><p>"Yeah!" Marriane softly replied, but now with strength behind her voice that was previously lost. "I can do the floors."</p><p>"There ya go! Now let's get to it!"</p><p>Hilda and Marriane wasted little time getting setup from the cleaning kit Seteth had left them. The soapy water was cool, but Hilda knew that it would do the job of getting the dust off the windows. The only issue would be the higher parts of the mirror that stretch to the ceiling, but with a reasonable explanation and a cute face, she knew her excuse would be Thoron-proof.</p><p>Marriane wetted a few rags and a hand brush in the soapy water before starting at a corner that was laden with mothballs and cobwebs. Determined, Marriane rolled up the sleeves of her academy uniform and began to scrub and clean on her hands and knees. The better a job she did here would mean no further punishment from Seteth. Marriane slowed her pace a bit as she pondered going to the cathedral afterward for a prayer.</p><p>Across the room, though much dirtier than earlier, Felix and Lindhardt had finally separated from each other to work on their respective activities. Felix took it upon himself to wash down the long table followed by wax to make the table look pristine. He only took this task since it subtly reminded him of oiling swords and basic maintenance, plus it would serve as a good distraction from Lindhardt. Perhaps he'd go to the church and pray that he'd never be paired up with someone lacking so much drive.</p><p>Once Felix threatened him to not alphabetize all the books, Lindhardt begrudgingly agreed to start dusting, though he did manage to get in a word edgewise that he would be more suited for the task due to his superior height. Mostly a jab to irritate the Fraldarius heir, but also technically correct. The best kind of correct.</p><p>Lindhardt's dusting took had him slowly circle the room, with the occasional glance toward Felix who seemed completely enraptured in his wax job of the long oak table and chairs. He shrugged to himself and began to contemplate why so many oddities were stuffed in that closet. Certainly, nothing seemed related to crests, and the books hardly seemed academic, so why were they in this room particularly? Lost in his thoughts, Lindhardt continued on his path dusting without much regard to where he might end up. A deluxe nap would be in order after this egregious punishment that required physical exertion.</p><p>Unaware of his surroundings and the humming that was slowly becoming louder with each step, Lindhardt sidestepped into a chair that jammed his foot. "Argh, that stung," Lin mumbled to himself before he looked up to see Hilda on top of the chair wobble.</p><p>"Look out!" Hilda cried. Lindhardt's recklessness was enough to send Hilda careening to the ground with a bucket of soapy water in hand. "Linhardt, you got me all soapy and wet!" Hilda complained as she was now drenched in water, and rubbing her rear end that she roughly landed on.</p><p>"Oh, apologies Hilda. I didn't see you there," Lindhardt replied as he offered a hand to Hilda. With a little effort, the gangly boy managed to help the Goneril girl to her feet.</p><p>Hilda rolled her eyes as she wrung out her drenched hair. "A blind person could have seen me! Ugh."</p><p>Linhardt felt a bit bad for knocking her down, but times like now were perfect for unique solutions. Clearing his voice, Lindhardt asked, "If you would allow me, I think I have a spell that may resolve this solution."</p><p>"I swear, Lin. If you set my hair on fire you will be seeing the business end of my axe," Hilda cooly threatened with a serious glare.</p><p>The Black Eagle member smiled and shook his head. "Oh, nothing so base as fire. Using wind magic with a slight application of fire magic will generate a heatwave that should sufficiently dry you off. I can even show you the formulae for-"</p><p>"Nope, just dry me off and all will be forgiven," Hilda chimed as she held her wet arms out. "Go on, blow me."</p><p>With a small chant and focus, Lindhardt unleashed his modified wind magic at the pink-haired girl. With a brief blast of hot air that managed to nearly knock Hilda off her feet, the spell was over just as quickly as it had begun. Felix looked up from his work, but merely shook his head and continued with his business. Marriane also took notice, but a small squeak from a nearby hole in the wall had distracted her from asking or investigating further.</p><p>Hilda felt definitely warmer after Linhardt's spell and a bit dryer, but her clothing still clung to her ample top. Even with the lingering dampness, her white undershirt looked much more see-through than she preferred. She was no begging to regret not wearing her academy jacket, as it would have probably absorbed a decent of the suds. Then again, not being here due to someone ratting her out would also be preferable.</p><p>"Well, it helped, but my clothes are still far from decent," Hilda remarked as her gaze settled on the pile of clothing they had previously removed from the closet. With a heavy sigh, Hilda walked over to the pile and began searching for a suitable replacement top. Hopefully, nobody outside the room would see the impending fashion disaster.</p><p>"Are you okay, Hilda?" Marriane called out as she was now up and about, though cupping something in her hands.</p><p>"I'm fine, just gotta change real quick," Hilda bemoaned as she grabbed a few garments from the pile and headed towards the closet. "I'll just be a moment!"</p><p>Lindhardt shrugged and murmured, "Well I thought the spell was a resounding success. The spell didn't even light her clothes on fire, which I predicted a 47 percent rate of that happening," Lindhardt looked over to his side to see Marriane standing there looking towards the closet with something in her. Curiosity got the better of the scholar as he asked, "What did you find?'</p><p>Marriane slowly unfurled her hands to reveal a small mouse. "I named him Oliver."</p><p>"Can I pet him?" Lindhardt tentatively asked, to which Marriane nodded. "He's cute."</p><p>With only Felix seemingly working, the door to the room unlocked and Seteth strode into the room. The smell of dust had been mitigated somewhat since last time, but the scene he walked into made him internally groan. Felix was on top of the long table waxing it, Lindhardt and Marriane were playing with a stray mouse, and Hilda just emerged from the far closet wearing old Church of Seiros cardinal robes.</p><p>Pinching the bridge of his nose, Seteth exhaled, "I hope you've managed to get some work done and not play dress-up and collecting mice." All the students try to protest at once, but with a quick raise of his index finger, Seteth silenced the room. "It's clear that I shouldn't have left you all unsupervised. I thought the task and instructions were simple. I shall stay, and I've brought one more person to aid you in your task."</p><p>Seteth stepped away from the doorway to reveal a shaggy-haired skirt-chasing redhead. He awkwardly scratched the back of his head and announced, "Looks like you guys all got in trouble too, eh? No worries, I'm sure we can knock out the rest of the work in no time."</p><p>"Very good, Sylvain," Seteth commended with a nod of approval. "Go aid Felix, I shall speak with the other three in the hallway for a moment."</p><p>Felix slammed his head against the wooden table, resulting in a loud thud. The students in the room raise an eyebrow as Hilda cautiously asked, "Is he okay?"</p><p>"Oh yeah, he just does that when he's excited to work with me," Sylvain reassured as he walked over tousled Felix's hair. "Don't worry buddy, we've got this."</p><p>"We're doomed and never leaving," Felix's groaned, though most of it muffled by the table.</p><p>Seteth proceeded to talk with Lindhardt, Marriane, and Hilda outside to explain the fault in their actions. Leaving all these problem students in a room together for an unsupervised amount of time was perhaps an ill-advised move, though Seteth would never admit it. Hopefully, they didn't look at his discarded short stories and novels he had hidden in the closet so long ago.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>A mix up from my usual style. I tried to write in a more general 3rd person POV in the past tense rather than 3rd limited or 1st person in present tense where I'm more comfortable. The goal of this was to just be a fun little one-shot between some characters that I don't typically see together, and that I felt would compliment each other well for some good ole' spring cleaning. Some bad puns, silly banter, and some light-hearted innuendo, it was entertaining to write.</p><p>Drop a review, and if you're looking for more good reading check out Narwhal Lord's Fanfiction Treehouse on discord . gg / 9XG3U7a where you can find me at Stormtide_Leviathan, and other great stories by many others. This challenge originated from this server, so feel free to check out other people's awesome short and long projects there!</p><p>Cya!</p></blockquote></div></div>
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